What is a ‘Money Mule’ scam?

Cybercriminals rake in a lot of cash from their activities (such as mystery shopper scams, lottery and romance scams, and identity theft), which creates a problem: for the most part, they can’t simply start using the funds for personal gain because financial institutions generally ask questions when dealing with amounts in the hundreds of thousands or millions. They need to launder the money to give the appearance of legitimate origins.

Enter the “money mule.”

Criminal organizations set up fraudulent businesses and recruit people with online work-at-home advertisements. These victims are hired under titles like “Transfer Agent” to act as intermediaries between non-existent business entities, supposedly to legally circumvent bureaucratic requirements, fees or taxes.

Anyone who responds to one of these offers will be instructed to open a new account, usually at a specific large bank. The victim receives incoming wire transfers in the $10,000 range, keeps a certain percentage, and then wires the rest (in chunks of around $3,000) to various (fraudulent) companies around the world. Repeat this for a few cycles between a few hundred victims, and the original source of the money becomes obscured.

Unlike the majority of scams, you may notice a difference here: in this case, the mule actually can make a profit. So why not look for a “Transfer Agent” job online and become a “victim,” make a quick couple hundred bucks and then get out?

Because, also unlike other scams, there can be legal consequences for the victim. In an effort to crack down on this type of activity, financial institutions are getting good at noticing suspicious wire transfer activity, and you could end up getting arrested when (not if) you get caught. Not worth it.

The key is to be very suspicious of any job opportunity that seems like it pays too much for the work required, shows up out of the blue (even if you’ve posted a resume on a job website), and steer clear of anything that involves receiving funds via wire, then disbursing those funds to others.